The bordermarkers of the Pyrenees : all my trips
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- tuesday 27 august 2019 -
Redoing bm537-540

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Summary: part of a series of 11 trips in august-september 2019 in the Pyrénées-Orientales, Andorra and the Hautes-Pyrénées. This is trip 3.

Today: a reconnaissance of the route from bm540 to 537, in particular from bm538 to 537. Meant as a preparation for the coming trip with Carlos and Conchita Roca on 30-8-2019.

Weather: a bit cloudy

track-20190827.kml
(click to open this trip in Google Earth or copy link to Google Maps; click right on this link to download gpx-version). The gps-track has not been manually  corrected which explains the inaccuracy and misalignment at some points. For cartographic backgrounds: see the cartography-page

Gps-waypoints of all bordermarkers (most recent version):
kml:  esfr-bordermarkers-all-waypoints.kml
gpx:  esfr-bordermarkers-all-waypoints.gpx
According to Garmin Basecamp (uncorrected track):

Distance: 6,3 km
Max-height: 755m
Min-height: 451m
Elevation: +391m -390m
Total elevation: 781m

Start  15:07 Finish 18:37
Total time: 3:30

In the morning I drive from Err to the camping in St-Laurent-de-Cerdans.

That will be my basecamp for the next few days.
After pitching my tent, I drive to the hamlet of Can d'Amunt, south of Coustouges.


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Beyond Can d'Amunt there is soon this bifurcation. Pincaro is a chapel in Spain and can be reached by crossing the border at bm540.


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The trail towards bm540.


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A waymark pointing to bm54o.


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Another bifurcation: to the right is to bm540, to the left is to bm541. But that latter route has become vague when coming from bm541.

If your goal is bm541, I recommend that you to take the trail to bm540 and cover bm541 from there (a 350m walk).


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Something special high up in the tree.

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It is the cast of Corinne Gourgeonnet's broken ankle.

She broke her ankle around here in 2017. See this blog-post.

Amazing: she still managed to walk back to her car and drive home. Only in the hospital they discovered that it was broken.


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I arrive at bm540 which is at the rock in the background at the right.

There's a sign


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waypointing to bm541.


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Bm540


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Bm540


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Bm540


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Bm540

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From bm540 I walk along the edge of the cliff to the W with this view


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to the chapel of Pincaro. I camped there on 16-3-2009 and 18-3-2009. A mysterious and spiritual place.


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There are blue (though faded) waymarks to guide you.

But in general the route along the cliff is obvious.


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Arriving at bm539.


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Bm539


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Bm539

A trail passes bm539 into Spain as is the case with bm540 and bm539.

The part on the French side is hardly recognizable and one wonders if the part in Spain is still to walk as such. I never tried.


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Bm539


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Further on, there are 2 airy passages, take care.


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There also these waymark-arrows, pointing in the direction of bm540.

Between bm539 and 538, there are a few points of doubt where the waymarked route is going but that poses no real problems.


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The second airy passage.


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Arriving at bm538.


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Bm538


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Bm538


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Bm538

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Then it gets difficult. A trail enters Spain and should bring me to hunter's post P538. But the trail becomes vague, I see no blue waymarks and I just can't find it.

Using my gps I and trying several trails, I end up - wrestling in the end through dense forest - NE of bm537.
Nevertheless I manage to get to bm537 which is along the S-side of a dry streambed. I am careful, being alone in a forest were few people come.

Bm537 is more or less at the beginning of that streambed which descends to bm536 at the banks of La Muga.


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Bm537


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Bm537


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Bm537


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From bm537 there's a trail downhill where - after 20m - you get at the junction of another trail (coming from the S) with the streambed. I know that trail from previous visits.

That trail leads in a semi-circle via hunter's post P538 to bm538.

From the junction, you can descend in the streambed itself to bm536. But I will do that on friday with Carlos and Conchita.
I try to return to bm538 along the trail. Note the blue waymark at the rock and the cairn.

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Further on, I spot this arrow-sign on a tree.

But beyond this point, there is no obvious trail to hunter's post P538 and I see no blue waymarks or arrow-signs anymore.


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So it takes a while before I find hunter's post P538.

I make waypoints to guide us on friday from bm538 to Poste 538 to the distict blue waymarked trail which ends at the dry streambed.


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P538


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From here I spot blue and other waymarks which bring me to


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bm538.

Apparently the blue waymarks were intended for a one way direction: from bm536 to bm540.

I return to bm540 and try if it is easier to go from bm539 through the forest to bm540. The answer is no: it is better to follow the edge of the cliff.


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When studying OpenStreetMaps much later, I discover something remarkable. We see all the trails I know in this borderregion including the trail from bm540 along the clif to bm536.
BUT: from bm536 there's an extension to the dirtroad uphill! Something to survey in the future.
Because that could involve a direct route - when coming from Hostal de la Muga - from the dirtroad to bm536 and uphill to b540. But that is intended for a variant covering bm536-539. The main GRPdesBF-route will continue on the dirtroad ("cami") and climb to bm540.
I return to Can d'Amunt, it has been a short but tough trip.


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Then back to the camping in St-Laurent-de-Cerdans.

I am glad that I did this reconnaissance. Would have been a bit embarrassing to do all that searching between bm538 and bm537 with Carlos and Conchita who still have a high esteem of me as their bordermarker-guide.


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